I was recently encouraged by a Bible study I attended. The teacher was addressing the question of whether the Bible contradicts itself. He challenged the liberal idea that the Bible is full of errors. He used the example of the man possessed by a legion of demons recorded in Matt 8:28-34 and Mark 5:1-20. Matthew says Jesus met two demon-possessed men, while Mark says He met one.
The teacher said that many claim this is a contradiction. Either Matthew or Mark was confused or got the story wrong. But the teacher said there is no error. There were two men, and Matthew points that out. Mark emphasized one of the men, perhaps because he did most of the speaking, or because he became a believer, while the other did not.
The teacher then gave an example. If two witnesses see an accident, one may refer to the two people involved, while another might focus on one person, describing the one who was responsible.
I enjoyed the discussion. It was clear and logical. As the reliability of the Bible remains under attack, it was a breath of fresh air to hear how these supposed contradictions are no contradictions at all. The teacher rightly pointed out that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. God cannot lie and does not get confused. There are no errors in His Word.
But then, the teacher blew it. He gave another example of a supposed contradiction that does not exist. He cited Rom 3:28, where Paul says that “we are saved by faith, not by works.” He then cited Jas 2:24, where James says, “We are saved by works, not by faith.” The teacher said that many claim that Paul and James contradict each other.
He said that both Paul and James are talking about salvation from the lake of fire. Both are talking about doing good works. But he insisted that there is no contradiction. He pointed out that Paul is talking about what initially saves the unbeliever from the lake of fire. Good works have no part in that at all. In the teacher’s view, James is talking about what flows from that initial salvation. Good works are necessary in the life of the believer, or he will be cast into the lake of fire. Good works, then, are necessary for salvation.
This example was neither clear nor logical. If James and Paul are both talking about the same salvation and the same works, then they are absolutely contradicting each other. This is not like two witnesses describing the same event, but focusing on different aspects. In this case, one says, “A, not B.” The other says, “B, not A.” It would be like Matthew’s saying there were two demon-possessed men, not just one, and Mark’s saying there was only one demon-possessed man, not two. If Matthew and Mark had said those things, they would have contradicted each other.
I wish the Bible teacher had honestly faced the supposed contradiction between Paul and James. If he concluded that Paul and James were talking about the same salvation and the same works, he would have said that there is a contradiction. Since he has such a high regard for the Scriptures, he would have been led to resolve the discrepancy.
That search would have eventually led him to the answer. Paul and James are not talking about the same salvation. The answer would have been as logical and clear as his example about the two demon-possessed men in Matthew and Mark. There is no contradiction between Paul and James.
